PMD : Nova Luna
by HarbingerHypno
Summary: 'Spooks' wakes up on a beach with no idea who or what he is. Aided by a guild trainee and famous explorer, he does his best to uncover his history - and the more he learns about who he was, the less he wants to know. Note : On a school hiatus, not cancelled!
1. The Beach

"Hey, are you okay?"

It was hot. Unbearably hot. The sand prickled his skin, and cold water lapping at his feet sent shivers up his spine.

"Oh, please wake up!"

The harsh contrast in temperatures between sand and sea made him feel vaguely nauseous and incredibly disoriented, feelings only intensified by what sounded like someone screaming directly into his skull. Why were they so loud? He attempted to tell them to be quiet and let him rest, but all he managed was a groan.

"Can you hear me? Do I need to get someone?"

He groaned again, and forced one eye open to look at the noisy thing that was annoyingly adamant about not letting him remain here passed out on the sand. It was a small bipedal Pokemon, cream with little triangle ears and a gleaming coin on its forehead. It looked rather alarmed, fur on edge as it knelt down to peer at him. As soon as he looked at it, it pulled its furry face into a nervous grin. "Oh, you're awake! Are you alright? What are you doing passed out on the beach like this?"

He slowly picked himself up, ignoring the wave of nausea and dizziness that accompanied the action, and slowly looked around. Beach … what was he doing on the beach? How did he get here? Wracking his memory came up with … nothing. A bit more panicked, he tried to recall something, anything - all he could come up with was sand and the ocean's slow waves.

" Hello? Are you sure you're okay?" The Pokemon had drawn back a bit when he sat up, watching him nervously. It was smaller than him, he realized upon sitting up. But it didn't look scared, just concerned. Hm.

 _" I don't know where I am,"_ his voice rasped, and echoed out of him like his chest was a canyon, and his throat felt like he'd tried to eat half the beach - dry and sandy and raw. He continued regardless, wincing a little. _"I don't know - how I got here, or ... Where … am I? Who am I?"_

The little Pokemon frowned at him, slowly tilting its head. "You don't remember? Uh … this is the beach, just a little south of Treasure Town. You really don't remember anything?" When he shook his head, it folded its arms and frowned. "Well … I've never seen a Pokemon like you before, but," it paused, seeming to think over its words for a moment before offering him a paw. "You look like you could use some help. Why don't you come with me, and we'll see if anything looks familiar to you!"

He stared at the offered paw for a moment, and painstakingly picked himself up off the ground, holding his hands out for a moment to steady himself before offering the Pokemon his own hand - much more threatening, dark and heavily clawed. My, he certainly had large claws. The other Pokemon took it without flinching, though, and started to lead him off the beach and up a dirt path.

"Oh," it beamed at him, "I didn't introduce myself, did I? I'm Meowth, it's nice to meet you! What's your name?"

He tried once more to dredge up something, anything about himself, but again, all he got was the beach. He thought as hard as he could, until his headache pounded more violently against his skull than he could take. He shook his head again, and got a vaguely sympathetic look from the Meowth holding his hand.

"Well … we'll figure something out!" It said, giving him another cheery smile. He just nodded tiredly and wondered how much longer it would be before he could actually lie down.

A good bit longer, as it turned out. Meowth had seemed rather determined to give him a whirlwind tour of Treasure Town on their way to … what he presumed was the Pokemon's home. He was well aware many of the Pokemon seemed to be giving him a wide berth, out of fear or suspicion, but Meowth seemed cheerily oblivious to it - instead, the little cat Pokemon had taken to asking the Shopkeepers and several passing strangers if they'd seen him in town recently, or at all. None of them seemed to have any more clue than he did, and his headache was making itself more and more known with each introduction. The only silver lining was one of the two lizard brothers (Kecleon?) seemed to take pity on the exhausted Pokemon, despite what he was beginning to learn was considered a rather unsettling appearance to most - and bagged them up some food for when they got home, which Meowth graciously accepted.

And then they were finally there, which he was immensely grateful for - he was starting to learn he despised both the sun and crowds. It was a strange little abode, built into a cliff face that was apparently called 'Sharpedo Bluff'. But it was blessedly dark and by far the nicest place he could ever remember being in. Meowth set about preparing them both dinner, and cheerfully directed him to a small spring built into the wall to get a drink if he wanted.

He did so, and found himself eyeing his own reflection curiously. He was a bit different compared to the rest of the Pokemon he had seen today, certainly. He was dark as shadow, with hair like clouds and brilliant blue eyes. He thought himself rather striking, but perhaps he could understand smaller Pokemon finding him intimidating. That was the impression he got from them, anyways… He idly wondered if the residents of this town did know who he was in secret, or have reason to distrust him, but he shook that thought quickly. Certainly someone would have said something.

"Dinner's served!" Meowth cut into his thoughts, and he lifted himself away from his reflection to settle where it indicated, finding himself quickly being offered a plate of various berries and fruits similar to Meowth's own but significantly more full. "You're a big Pokemon compared to me, so I figured you should probably eat more," it explained cheerfully, plopping down in its own bed and quickly chowing down.

He folded his legs and slowly picked at his food, tasting each thing one at a time to determine what he liked and what he didn't. He didn't seem to outright dislike anything, but he didn't feel overly hungry either. By the time he finished Meowth had already cleaned its plate and was just watching him - which certainly didn't make him want to eat any faster.

"I've been thinking," it said, and he resisted the urge to make some snide comment and let it continue, "that we need to call you something. You don't know your name, and no one even knows what you are, right? So we gotta come up with something in the meantime!" He stared at it blankly, which it apparently took as an invitation to continue. "And I've been thinking of some. Like - Shadow."

 _"Absolutely not."_

"Oh, you're no fun. How about Pitch?"

He gave it another cold look. _"A bit too close to b-"_

"Okay, okay, forget that one," it waved its paws a bit frantically, but looked close to laughter. "Spooks?"

 _"That's the worst one yet. You may as well refer to me as only 'the scary Pokemon I found passed out on the beach', it's somehow less childish."_

Meowth, of course, seemed to find this very funny, and as it cleaned up their plates he could hear it suddenly snorting to itself and mumbling 'beach dude'. He tried his best to ignore it, for his own sanity, and settled into bed. He got the feeling he'd need his rest for tomorrow.

Before he slid completely into sleep, he could have sworn he heard Meowth say, "G'night, Spooks."

* * *

A/N : And here's my first chapter of this fic ! Updates may be spotty , but I'll do my best to keep them regular . I'm really enjoying writing it so far , and hope you enjoy reading it ! That being said , I don't really have a beta reader or anything , and if you have any non-constructive criticisms or nitpicks please keep them to yourself . I'm doing this for fun , and seeing as anyone who's played PMD2 and has figured Spooks out already knows , I'm pretty much throwing canon in the garbage here and rewriting history . Don't expect this to follow the canon game storyline .


	2. Team Skull, the Prequel

He awoke by himself to the empty cliff face, momentarily disoriented and absolutely parched. He hauled himself up to get a drink, and then found himself wondering what to do next. That Pokemon - Meowth, wasn't anywhere in sight, and by the looks of things he'd slept well past noon. Well, he'd probably earned that rest, although he still didn't know what had exhausted him so thoroughly, After a quick stretch and a few quick laps around the room, he found himself rather dissatisfied with sitting here waiting for Meowth to come back. So, after thinking it over for a moment, he ascended back to the world above. Waiting around wouldn't help him figure any of this out, after all.

Treasure town was just as busy as yesterday, and he was sure he recognized a few faces. He got marginally less cold or frightened looks this time, though, that was a bonus. Maybe in a few centuries everyone would get over it.

"Good evening, sir," one of the Kecleon brothers greeted him as he passed. He stopped and inclined his head a bit in response. " Looking for something?"

 _"Ah - no , apologies. I'm afraid I don't have any money."_

The elder Kecleon waved the younger off, and gave their shadowy visitor a welcoming smile. "Ah, no worries, no worries at all. Young miss Meowth told us all about your predicament, and made sure to know if you needed anything to just put it on her tab."

He mulled that over for a moment, and found himself oddly touched that Meowth exhibited both the forethought and kindness to make such a request. _"I will … keep that in mind, sirs, thank you. Do you know where Meowth may be?"_

"The guild, again, I reckon," answered the younger of the two, gesturing to a building he'd somehow passed over yesterday. He didn't know how he or Meowth had missed it, in all honestly. It was massive, and pink, and absolutely appalling. "She heads up there every day or two, yet never seems to actually get the nerve up to join."

Seeing his clueless expression, the elder one chimed in. "The Wigglytuff Guild is the regional hub for all sorts of Exploration teams and whatnot. It's a hard job, sure, but many find themselves caught by the allure of discovery. And keep us in business!"

After exchanging pleasantries some more, the dark Pokemon excused himself from the shop and headed in the direction of the Guild. Exploring didn't seem like such an enticing concept to him. In his recollection, he'd only ever been to a singular town in his life, and just the one was utterly exhausting to him already. He didn't know Meowth all that well, though. Perhaps she was secretly the brave and dashing type, and had somehow forgotten to be either brave or dashing since they'd met.

Regardless, whatever odd ritual she may have in regards to visiting a place daily but never entering was not about to be disrupted by him because he was bored. Thankfully, something else caught his attention : two purple Pokemon nearby, mumbling to eachother and flying down the path to the beach, completely failing to notice their audience.

He was very, very much not one to judge, but they seemed awfully suspicious. And what was one suspicious Pokemon to do but follow two other suspicious Pokemon?

The path to the beach was notably nicer without the pounding headache, too. He hung back as to not be noticed, and took idle note of the scenery as he made his way to the beach.

He was far, far less relaxed about the scene that met him. He'd found Meowth, but so had the two he'd been tailing - and the chunky one just shoved her, while the flappy loud one snatched something she'd been holding. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying from here, but before he could cross the distance between them, the chunky one and flappy one both cackled and floated away into a nearby cave, taken whatever they'd stolen with them and leaving Meowth stunned and teary-eyed.

As soon as she spotted him, she practically threw herself at his legs, clinging to him and wailing. "Spooks! They - those two bullies stole my special treasure! Wh - what should I do?"

Spooks (as it appeared he'd been unfortunately dubbed) was taken aback for a moment , then crouched down and put both of his hands on her shoulders. _"Meowth, listen to me. You won't get anything done by crying. Now, what you need to do, is go in there and **beat the shit out of them**."_

She sniffled, and wheezed out a laugh. "Spooks, I think you have terrible ideas. There's two of them, and one of me, and - oh, I can't do it! They were right, I'm a coward!" She sniffled again, tears welling up once more. He shook her slightly to get her attention.

 _"No, Meowth, you misunderstand me. You are going to go in there, and you're going to beat those little punks into the pulp and get your weird rock back. Then you're gonna tell me what the deal is with the head building."_

"Head bui - oh, the Guild. Right, right. I can … I can do that. I can do this!" She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than him, but he gave her an encouraging thumbs up regardless. She wiped her face, straightened up, and marched into the cave with as much purpose as she could manage.

Spooks was pretty sure she had a 50% chance of getting instantly wiped. Plan B was to just throw the round one into the flappy one and call it a day.

He was rather pleasantly surprised when, instead of Meowth, the two who had been picking a fight came fleeing out of the cave, empty-handed (metaphorically speaking) and significantly more battered than before. He was almost proud when Meowth emerged shortly afterwards, holding her treasure in one paw and beaming despite looking like she'd been thrown into the sea more than once.

"Spooks! I did it!" She held up the weird rock triumphantly, bounding over to him to show it off. "See? This is my personal treasure! It looks like garbage, yeah, but look closer!"

He obliged. _"It still … kinda just looks like g- a rock to me."_

She huffed. "Yeah, but see, there's a little inscription here!" She pointed it out, and continued to explain the history of it and her desire to explore the world. He may have tuned it out a bit, and eventually took her arm and steered her back to the beach path as she rambled on, only half listening. She didn't seem to notice at all, not even when he led her up the stairs to - what was it? The 'Guild'?

"-but every time I get there, I just get all jelly-legged and nervous , and then I can't gOO _OWHOAH_." She finally noticed where they were, and turned to him with a look of pure betrayal. "No! I can't do this, Spooks! I-I haven't even had time to prepare!"

 _"Just like you couldn't beat up those two purple idiots?"_ When she didn't answer that, he pressed on. _"Listen, you may not get in, yeah, but you won't get in if you don't try."_ He didn't understand why she'd even want to, the idea of running around in unexplored places just seemed tiring and inconvenient, but hey, if she was into that he didn't get why she didn't just go ahead and do it already.

She stared at him for a moment, and he could practically see her resolve crumble. Maybe she figured he wouldn't let her leave until she tried. Which was a little true - he pretty much had nothing else to do around here, and she looked like she could use the extra … motivation. She took a deep breath and stepped onto the grate before her.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" A shrill voice called up from below, making Meowth squeak in alarm and jump a bit. She stayed there, though, shivering violently.

"Who's footprint! Who's footprint!" Oh, cool, everyone just repeated what they said here, apparently. Meowth was still tense, and Spooks resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Everything about this screamed nerds.

"The footprint is Meowth's! The footprint is Meowth's! YOU up there!" Meowth jumped again. "Someone's WITH you! So get them to stand on the GRATE!"

She gave him a helpless look , stepping off of it, and he gave her a blank stare in return before leaning forwards to call down the hole. He could have sworn whatever was down there squeaked as his shadow suddenly covered the grate, and he almost laughed when he realized why. He, too, would be afraid if he saw something shaped like him when he thought it was a _footprint_. _"I'm not coming in, it's just her."_ Meowth looked a bit put off, but not surprised. It's not like she could expect this memory-less stranger to randomly make a major commitment like this with her. Who would even do that? What kind of person would ask someone to do that?

After a few moments of talk between the two, the louder one called back up. "ALRIGHT, you can come on IN. You there, with Meowth, DON'T get any funny IDEAS." With that, the gate over the door creaked open.

Meowth gave him a nervous look, but smiled. "Wish me luck, Spooks!"

 _"You won't need it,"_ he lied through his teeth.

She entered the head-shaped building, and he found himself standing there silently for a few moments, before turning and heading back to Treasure Town, leaving her to whatever fate this so-called Guild had in store for her.

She didn't come back that night, and he found himself much more at ease once the sun left the sky. The cool ocean breeze was relaxing, and he found himself wandering the town, driven out by some indescribable urge. The shops were closed, and the town was empty. It was blessedly quiet with everyone asleep. He closed his eyes and just sighed slowly. He'd made no breakthroughs on remembering anything today, or really done much of anything besides motivated some random Pokemon to follow her dreams. Sure, it was dissatisfying, but he couldn't make massive breakthroughs every day, surely.

That was when he walked right off the edge of Sharpedo Bluff and found out he could fly.

So, maybe things weren't so bad.

* * *

Here's chapter two ! I've got a handful written already , but I'm gonna space out posting them so I'll always have one or two chapters ready to go in case I hit a dry spell with writing . Reviews are greatly appreciated , and I hope you all enjoy so far !


	3. Rumors and Dungeons

Spooks had spent most of the next afternoon just wandering again. Everyone in Treasure town seemed more tired and subdued than before, something he initially chalked up to the heat. When buying some food from the Kecleon brothers, however, he figured out the truth : everyone really had slept poorly.

"It's unusual," the elder was telling him. "Surely one or two nightmares aren't unusual, but it seems many in town had them last night, even though they aren't prone to dreams." He frowned. "Did you?"

Spooks shook his head. _"I did not sleep until dawn, but once I did I can't recall having any dreams."_

"Well, I suppose you wouldn't have much to dream of, hm?" Kecleon mused to himself, handing over the bag his brother had been preparing. He bid them farewell, and mused this over. It for some reason reminded him of a few other bits of gossip he'd overheard in town. Perhaps he could investigate further…

With Meowth not returning again as the sun started to set, he kept to his aimless meandering, until finally overhearing something that drew his interest. Two Pokemon were conversing idly by the closed dojo, and as soon as he heard something about a 'Time Gear' he made a beeline over to them.

 _"Excuse me,"_ they both jumped when he spoke, turning to face him. _"I couldn't help but overhear… I'm rather new to the area. What's a time gear?"_

The two Pokemon looked at each other before one - a purple spiky one nearly as big as him with a massive grin - spoke up. "Well, everyone sort of knows about them… they sit in one place, and make sure time, y'know, keeps going. But there's been some rumors that the flow of time is getting messed up anyways, which is causing lots of Pokemon to go bad."

His companion, a little pink and cream cat that sort of reminded him of Meowth, piped up. "I heard something about someone trying to steal one of them. I think the guild is just covering it up till they catch the thief."

"And I was trying to convince her that's stupid," added the smiley one. "No one messes with the Time Gears, there's nothing to gain from it and moving them would probably cause something really bad."

Spooks thought that over for a second, humming. _"But you said time is getting messed up even though the Time Gears are still there? Why do you think that is?"_

The two looked at eachother, and Smiles was the first one to answer. "Well, ah, I'm not sure. Surely we'd have heard if one got stolen, but … maybe something else is wrong?" He frowned, crossing his stubby arms, and the cat beside him looked even more convinced on her previous point.

Spooks, not wanting to let an argument brew there, cut in. _"Well, I'm sure someone will figure it out eventually. As long as the Time Gears stay where they are, nothing too bad could happen, right?"_ They both nodded, but the little cat didn't look as convinced as her spiky friend.

"Hey, you're the beach guy, right?" Little cat suddenly piped up. He nodded a bit, and she half-smiled. "We heard about you! You're way scarier than I thought you'd be." She said this very cheerfully, like the was impressed rather than actually scared by him. "We're one of the local exploration teams! I'm Skitty, the big guy here's Gengar. Our leader, Zoroark, is somewhere around town. We're Team Landslide." She nudged Gengar, who shook Spooks' hand. "You ever need a team for something, we're your dudes."

 _"...Thank you."_ He was a bit taken aback by their sudden offer, and somewhat bewildered by it. Was everyone here just … nice? _"I'll keep that in mind."_ He bowed a bit to them, which Gengar seemed to find funny, and quickly took his leave before anyone else tried to be nice to him. It was just too strange.

Again, he found himself growing only more awake when night fell. Instead of spending all day and night exploring Treasure Town, he took advantage of his newly-learned skill and floated out over the ocean, circling the cliff that the town and guild were built upon. He'd heard that the Wigglytuff Guild was built right into the cliff, and maybe he'd get to check it out when no one would be awake to stop him. Hopefully.

He quickly determined that the windows were probably too small for him, but he could at least peer inside. Seeing the empty headquarters didn't really interest him, but the other windows did. They looked like the rooms of the guild members - oh. Of course. He had taken a moment to recognize Meowth, sharing a room with a small brown Pokemon. They were both asleep, but it didn't seem like it was very restful. Kecleon had said everyone had nightmares, right? That looked to be happening here … the window frame prevented him from leaning his head in, so he went for an arm instead, reaching just far enough to barely nudge the sleeping cat's tail.

 _"Psst… Meowth. Wake up."_ She stirred, and he managed to hook a claw around her tail, tugging it lightly. _"Wake up."_

She grunted, sitting up and looking tiredly around, before locating the source of her awakening. She opened her mouth, but he quickly shooshed her before she woke everyone. She carefully picked herself up and crept to the window, leaning up. "Spooks, what are you doing here?"

 _"Visiting. You're all having nightmares?"_

She frowned and shook her head. "No! Well - we didn't yesterday, at least, just the Pokemon in town. I - kinda thought it was just me. Thanks for waking me up." She jumped up to balance precariously on the windowsill, pressed against the wooden grid set in it and sighing. "Sorry for not visiting, things have been … well, hectic. But you were right." She smiled a bit. "It's great here."

He nodded. _"I'm always right."_ He pulled away from the window, turning to look at the moon. It was high in the sky now, and would soon begin its descent. _"You should get back to bed though. I was just here to take a look at the place. Maybe you and the guild can look into these nightmares - and don't forget,"_ he pointed to himself with one finger, _"we still don't know what I am."_

She nodded, sliding back onto the floor. "I'm asking everyone I see, Spooks, don't worry about it, okay? I'll figure this out for you. G'night." She turned, and then paused, turning back to the window. "Spooks… how are you outside my window?"

He only laughed, loud enough to startle her roommate into consciousness, then took off over the ocean into the night.

Treasure Town had bored Spooks in the two days he'd explored what it had to offer, so when the next day came (and this time he awoke even closer to sunset than before) he went beyond its confines to see what the rest of the world had to offer.

And he'd gone a lot farther than he intended. The sun was rising by the time he found and entered a forest. And he was pretty sure he was currently in what was called a Mystery Dungeon. Space didn't seem to really make sense here. First he was just in the woods and next he was in narrow passages lined by foliage too thick to get past. He didn't mind the darkness, but he had the nagging feeling he wasn't the only thing here.

He was proven right when another Pokemon stumbled into the passageway, shaking its head and looking at him with pure rage. The way it stood was like it was … sick, or something, its purple fur matted and eyes glassy. _"Uh … are you … okay?"_ Spooks took a hesitant step forwards, only for it to mirror his movement and suddenly lash out, slashing at his legs with his claws. He yelped and stepped back, only for it to press back in towards him and attack again.

He'd never been attacked before. He didn't even know what he was doing, but this wretched purple Pokemon attacking him for no reason -

 _made him very very angry._

He wasn't sure exactly what he did, but before he could think about it, he reached out and flicked his hand downwards at it. He summoned some sort of wind, wretched and purple, to batter at the thing, that staggered under the force and them collapsed. Panting a bit, Spooks lowered his hand and hesitantly nudged it with one foot. It didn't move. He looked around nervously, confirmed they were alone, and went to step over for it - only for it to be gone when he looked back down.

Alright. That was weird. He may have just murdered someone, he'd figure that out later.

The Dungeon proved to be riddled with the odd outraged Pokemon. It was a trial by fire, and he was quickly learning his capabilities. Not only did he have his weird shadow wind attack, he could also throw sucker punches, or put on some extra speed and hit something before it hit him. It was all awkward and unrefined, sure, but he was quickly learning he had the strength to backup his clumsy moveset. Collecting items wasn't very easy, and he'd bruised more than one berry by having to drop it when a Pokemon randomly lunged at him. He quickly learned what berries helped him hurt less, and picked them up whenever he could.

And most interesting of all, more than once he came across sleeping Pokemon, who'd quickly begin to writhe and shake in their sleep. They were having nightmares, yes, but only once he got close. He'd have to experiment with that … he was getting a hunch that he may have found the culprit to Treasure Town's nightmare problem.

All in all, it was exhausting, but kind of exhilarating. He liked being able to hold his own without any training or help from anyone else. Made him feel stronger. And after awhile, he came to what he supposed was the end of the dungeon. And it was … kind of disappointing. A deep hole in the ground, and after that just an empty spring. Didn't everyone say there was treasure at the end of these things?

Not that he could carry any treasure anyways, though, he already had trouble carrying everything he'd found, and had an awkward armful of berries and seeds wrapped up in little scarves he'd found abandoned, not to mention a particularly heavy box he had to balance with them. The trek back to town was longer and harder than the journey there had been because of it, and he was more than happy to skip down entirely and retreat back to Sharpedo Bluff to plop everything in an unceremonious pile and slump down into bed. Just before sleep claimed him, he could have sworn he felt like he was being watched ... but by the time he woke up, he'd long since forgotten whatever he was worried about.

* * *

These chapters keep getting progressively longer ... don't worry ! The next one's even longer than this , but chapter 5 drops back down to only 1200 words or so . I'll try not to kill all you poor souls with how much I like to write :o) but I make no promises to keep them all my chapters a sensible length !


	4. Gallade

He was in the middle of sorting out his collected treasures when Meowth came bursting into the room, shouting and waving her hands wildly. "Spooks, I think I'm onto something!" He looked up at her, and she skidded to a stop beside him and plopped down, catching her breath before launching into her explanation without giving him the chance to even greet her.

"Okay, so you said the guild would probably look into the nightmares, and we did, well, I did, I went through the guild's archives and there's sooo much stuff down there and it took ages, but-!" She paused to breathe, "I found a mention in an old storybook to some sort of Legendary Pokemon! They just called it the Prince of Darkness, and they said it being around you caused nightmares! And look look look!" She dug in her bag and pulled out a very old-looking roll of parchment, unraveling it and eagerly showing it to him. The drawing she pointed to was aged and faded, and heavily stylized, but after a moment he realized why she was pointing it out. It was him. "That's you!" She echoed his thoughts, eagerly rolling it back up and putting it away. "And it makes sense, right? I had a nightmare when you came to visit!"

He thought it over for a moment. She had just confirmed his suspicions, and then gone above and beyond and uncovered so much more. But still, he doubted anyone local would be as happy to learn about this as she was. He thought things over for a minute, trying to formulate his questions carefully. _"So … we have a myth. I don't really know what a 'Legendary Pokemon' is, but judging by that paper I'm pretty old, right? So someone would have to have met me … and, the nightmares, I just cause them by being nearby. How do I stop that?"_

She was pretty much bouncing at this point. "I can answer two of those things with one thing, Spooks! There was another Pokemon mentioned, and she's supposed to bring good dreams! She's like, your opposite, I guess? She has to know who you are!" She beamed up at him, and he hesitantly smiled back. She looked tired, but immensely proud of herself, and he was suddenly overcome with gratitude for how much she'd already done for him.

 _"So, I just have to find this dream Pokemon, and she'll fill in some gaps for me. Cool. Where do we begin?"_ Her face fell but before she could tell him what he'd already guessed, he went on. _"No, the paper's old and doesn't even have our names, I doubt it'd say anything like that. You - keep up with your guild work, okay? "_ He patted her shoulder, and she nodded - and the surprised him by reaching up and throwing her arms around him.

"I'm gonna figure this out for you, Spooks," she promised quietly. "I'm not gonna let you down. You … you were there for me, and now I'm gonna be there for you, alright?"

He sighed, patting her head. _"I know, Meowth. You are by far the kindest Pokemon I've ever met."_

She laughed. "Spooks, you know like, three people."

 _"Five,"_ he corrected proudly. She laughed again, and squeezed him a bit before relinquishing her hold on him.

"But, listen," she began, "I know all this is probably weird and new for you, but … don't mention the dream stuff to anyone yet, okay? We don't want anyone to, well, freak out and accuse you of being here to steal their souls."

 _"They'd do that?"_ He asked delightedly, leaning forwards. She laughed again and pushed him away.

"I dunno, I'd hope not! I'll see if I can talk to the Guildmaster about it, but he's … weird." She made a face. "Really weird, to the point where it's kinda creepy. I think you'd hate him."

 _"I could never hate anything creepy,"_ he scoffed, unable to hide his smile.

"He's soft and pink and calls everyone friends and sleeps with his eyes open and-"

 _"Augh, no no no, stop right there, it's too much. That sounds absolutely horrid, Meowth, you are so much stronger than I am."_ He feigned fainting, and the two found themselves cackling hysterically for the next few minutes - every time they made eye contact they'd start laughing harder.

After finally catching their breaths, they stared up at the ceiling, Meowth reclining on his arm. "Hey," she said.

 _"Hey,"_ he answered.

"If we don't figure this out - if you don't remember who you were before … you could join the guild with me."

 _"And face your Guildmaster? You'd march me to my end so willingly?"_

"Spooks, I'm being serious!"

 _"So am I, he sounds terrifying!"_

She wiggled to face him, leaning on his chest instead. "I've never really had anyone who liked hanging out with me. So, I get what it's like to feel alone. And you look like the type who likes solitude, yeah, but … if you want a friend, you've got one." She took his hand, and he squeezed it a bit. She squeezed back. They just sat there for a few minutes, neither speaking, until she jolted upright and gasped.

"Oh, I forgot, I have to get back to the Guild before curfew! I'll see you later, Spooks - don't terrorize anyone tonight, okay?" She patted his hand, then got up and sprinted full speed away. "Just - stay - here!"

He watched her go, and mulled over her offer in his mind. Not pushing or anything, just an offer - if he couldn't get everything worked out, he'd still have somewhere to go. That was … comforting. He was not alone.

He still had some time before the shops closed, so he gathered up some of his extra scarves and his box and headed into town. He sold the excess, kept the odd trinket from the box, and best of all, bought himself a bag from the Kecleon brothers - no more awkwardly balancing a dozen things in his arms as he walked. Not that he enjoyed exploring, of course, it was needlessly tiring and hadn't even been that rewarding. He just … liked the rush of battle. A lot. To the point where it may be a touch worrying, even? Still, over-enthusiastic in combat or not, he couldn't deny it came rather naturally to him, and he could certainly hold his own in a fight. It would just be a waste not to do anything with it. He did not want to be an 'explorer' my any means. He just wanted to … explore. It was different.

He made sure to be out of town by the time everyone went to sleep. He didn't venture out tonight, though, he simply went down to the beach and practiced his moves until they came easily to him. It wasn't as easy with no clear target - more than once he summoned some sort of mass of shadows that didn't seem to do anything, but the rest of it managed to get a lot smoother with practice.

"Alas! You also cannot sleep, I see."

Spooks suddenly understood why everyone jumped when he spoke before they noticed him. He jumped too, yes - and then melted into his own shadow like a terrified puddle. That was new. And very disorienting.

"Ah, forgive me, friend, I did not mean to alarm you." Spooks pulled himself partially out of his shadow, eyeing the Pokemon suspiciously. It was tall, and looked almost similar to Spooks himself in body shape. It was white and green, though. It even had a red spike jutting through its chest, like him. The similarities were enough for Spooks to stand straight up again, giving the stranger a more curious stare. It smiled back and offered a hand. "Deepest apologies. I am Gallade."

Spooks took Gallade's hand without much hesitating, shaking it. _"I'm, ah - the Pokemon in town call me Spooks."_ Gallade seemed very polite, at least, but he made Spooks feel a little less eloquent. _"I haven't seen you before."_

Gallade just smiled at him. "I am an Explorer. I have been staying with the Guild for the time being. I arrived earlier today, and have not yet gotten acquainted with town. Would you like to spar with me?"

At Spook's sudden confused look, he explained. "You would likely practice better with a target to focus on, and I can perhaps give you some pointers? I am very experienced." He wasn't bragging, just … making an offer. It still kind of ruffled Spook the wrong way though, and Gallade seemed to notice this. "I mean not to intrude, of course, and will take my leave if you don't wish to have my presence nearby. You just look to be very powerful, but perhaps lacking in control?"

Gallade's careful flattery soothed Spook's ego a bit, and he nodded. _"I have … not had much practice,"_ he confessed to the other Pokemon. _"And I've never sparred with anyone, so if I knock you out it's not my fault, alright?"_

Gallade laughed, and took his place facing Spooks from a few feet away. He bowed, and after a moment Spooks bowed back, and then they both immediately swung into action.

Spooks was made very quickly aware of how little experience he had against a Pokemon who could withstand a direct hit. Gallade matched him for speed easily, and he moved with a sort of grace Spooks couldn't begin to match.

"So!" Gallade said cheerfully, while aiming a low kick at Spooks, who barely dodged. "I should have pegged you for a dark type, not ghost. My bad. Do you live here?"

Spooks swung at him, and Gallade raised his arms to block it - only for Spooks to land a lucky hit against his now unguarded stomach instead. _"Not really. I don't think so, at least. I woke up on the beach a few - oof!"_ Gallade sent him skidding backwards with some sort of energy ball, and it _hurt_. He wobbled a bit, and the other Pokemon paused, immediately looking concerned he'd hit Spooks too hard. He caught his breath quickly though, and despite the ache leapt right back at Gallade. It was a far superior rush to go up against something that was a _match_ for him.

 _"So, anyways,"_ Spooks continued, like nothing had happened, dropping into Gallade's shadow moments before Gallade made contact and leaving him teetering awkwardly before Spooks knocked him over with a blow between the shoulder blades. _"I still really don't know why I'm here, or even what I am. It kinda sucks, I guess?"_

Gallade sounded somewhat winded as he rolled back to his feet. "Yes, I … can see what you … mean. My condolences - that must be hard on you. Oof, you're stronger than you look. I say we call it a draw." He abruptly dropped his fighting stance and sat on the sand, taking a few shaky breaths. "You're quite the battler, but I can tell you're new to this. Your Feint Attack wasn't as weak as it would have been against another fighting type, as I am part psychic, but you missed a few good opportunities there. Still, an interesting experience, you have a lot of power for so little experience. No offense, of course."

Spooks nodded, and sat lightly next to Gallade, rubbing at his hands to get rid of the lingering soreness there. _"I - thank you. You're very fast. That was fun."_ Gallade was bleeding slightly from one scratch, and Spooks' stomach jolted at the sight in an uncomfortable way.

"Yes, I suppose I am! But in a real fight, I feel like I could have beaten you. You aren't very good at predicting moves." Gallade smiled gently at him, taking no notice of his sudden distraction, then stood again and offered him a hand. Spooks took it, and blinked in surprise when Gallade hauled him up and closer, coaxing the Dark type to put a hand on his shoulder. "How about something a little more peaceful, then?"

Spooks was baffled by whatever was going on, but he followed Gallade's lead anyways - one hand on the Psychic type's shoulder, the other on his arm, a pose Gallade somewhat mimicked aside from resting a hand on Spooky's hip. It wasn't until a few steps in Spooks realized the Psychic was leading him in a _dance_.

The two danced silently on the beach, slow and careful of injuries they'd inflicted onto each other. Spooks wasn't sure how long they did that, but it seemed like both a moment and an eternity before the sun was rising over the beach. Gallade pulled back, and bowed to Spooks, who awkwardly returned the gesture - and who was rendered speechless when the psychic type kissed his hand gently.

"Thank you for sharing your night with me. I do hope we see each other again, and if not, I hope you find what you are looking for, Mister Spooks. Good day." And then he smiled and walked away, leaving Spooks standing there stunned until the light and heat got to be too much.

It hit him as soon as he got home that Gallade was either flirting with him or threatening him. Maybe both?

Spooks hoped he'd see him again soon.

* * *

I don't even remember writing this chapter I'm so tired and still can't feel my face from the dentist so have this y'all

Some art for this fic may go up on harbingerhypno on tumblr if I ever remember to post it!


	5. Premonition

Spooks was nearly waist-deep in murky water, standing perfectly still with every sense on high alert. He shifted just a tiny bit, and every movement set the water rising higher up his body. He gasped, and was still again before it reached his chest. The sky was a dim sickly orange, and around him dead twisted trees rose up above the foul water. His heart leapt as he spotted something dripping in one of the trees, and he recognized it as Meowth, her limp body wedged between two branches.

 _"Meowth!"_ He called out, but she didn't answer. He took a step, then another, struggling through the water towards her and ignoring the way it rose around him. Something wet and slimy kept tangling around his legs, making him stumble, but he continued, calling out to her as he did. He was almost to her - his hands were on the rough bark of the tree - when the water finally came over his head.

He didn't feel underwater. He was just … floating in pure blackness, with a deep chill starting to seep into his bones. Something slowly rested a hand on his shoulder from behind, and he dared not turn to look, or even move. Something told him if he did whatever had its hands on him would not like it. Another hand rested on his hip, and he tried to ignore the frigid breath on his back.

"Are you sure you want to know who you are?" The voice hissed. He stayed still, balling his hands into a fist to stop them from shaking. It carried on. "What will they say when they find out what you did to them, just from being here. What a horrible thing you must be, to bring nightmares just by existing."

He opened his mouth to say something - tell it to go fuck itself, maybe - but he couldn't get the words out before he was suddenly choking on water, and he coughed only to breathe more in, and if he could _just get away from the claws suddenly digging into him he knew he could be free but he couldn't and just before his vision went black he_ -

woke up with a start, gasping and choking on air. It took a few seconds for it to register that he wasn't drowning, he was safely in his bed with the sun steadily climbing in the sky. He scrambled up, barely managing to get to the edge of the stone teeth before getting violently sick into the ocean below. It took him a few minutes even then to right himself, breathing hard and shaky. What the fuck was that? He'd never even had a dream, let alone a nightmare. Certainly never anything like that.

 _"Fuck,"_ he rasped to himself weakly, slumping down with his hands clutching the stone teeth like they were all he had to keep himself afloat.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, shaken to the bone, before a voice interrupted him. "Hello? Mr. Spooks, are you home?" It took him a heartbeat to place the voice as Gallade's. As much as he would have loved to see the handsome psychic again, now wasn't really a great time. Still … he maybe wouldn't be opposed to some company right now.

 _"Yeah,"_ he managed, pulling himself more upright. _"I - just woke up, come on in."_

Gallade did, and Spooks felt a bit embarrassed by the immediate look of concern on the psychic's face and the way he hovered over Spooks nervously, as if afraid he was going to collapse. "Oh, my friend, are you ill?"

Spooks waved him off and shook his head, fumbling to explain. _"Just - a bad dream, is all. I don't - I've never really had a dream before, it was just …"_

Gallade made a low sympathetic noise and took Spooks' hands, urging him to sit down on his bed. "I understand, my friend. Easy now … it looks like it was a rough one. I … forgive me, perhaps this is my fault." Spooks gave him a confused look, and he explained further. "I have been focusing on the auras and energies of this town to locate the source of the nightmares everyone seems to be suffering from. It is - a unique talent of mine, you see. And I'm afraid that in trying to track it I may have … forced it back unto its source. Which is - "

 _"Me, yeah. We figured it out yesterday."_ Spooks was even more nervous at this point, feeling wobbly and out of focus. Hadn't Meowth said he'd be all but chased out of town for it? _"I didn't - it's not really something I know how to turn off and -"_

Gallade shushed him gently. "I am not to accuse you, friend. You are an amnesiac, yes? Why don't you tell me everything you've figured out. Perhaps I can be of assistance?"

So Spooks somehow found himself, head inexplicably in Gallade's lap, telling the psychic of everything that had happened so far. It took longer than expected, especially when he found himself blurting out the contents of his nightmare to the patient Pokemon, who just hummed and pet his smoky hair to soothe him.

Gallade seemed lost in thought, and Spooks was tired enough to just lay there contentedly while Gallade thought. He had almost dozed off completely when the psychic spoke. "I will be honest in that I have never been one for worship of the Legendary Pantheon. I was raised with myths about the Cataclysm Beasts and the Lord of Sacred Fires, but … I'm afraid I don't know much more than Miss Meowth was able to tell you about yourself. However! I am sure Miss Meowth and I shall be able to uncover something before long if we work together." He smiled down at Spooks gently. "Will you be able to wait, my friend?"

 _"I - uh,"_ Spooks fumbled over his words, taking a moment to find his tongue. _"Yeah. No problem. Just - keep me updated, I guess. Lemme know what's … what the plan is."_

Gallade laughed softly at his complete lack of grace. "Of course, my friend. I should go, though." After a few moments, Spooks finally got the hint and quickly rose from the psychic's lap, spluttering an apology. Galllade laughed again and rose to his feet once more. He seemed to think for a moment, then offered Spooks his hand, pulling the dark type up to stand with him. "Perhaps you'd like to come visit miss Meowth with me, though…?"

Spooks thought about it for a moment, lowering his hands from Gallade's hesitantly and crossing his arms. _"I wouldn't want to cause any trouble. Plus, no offense, but that building looks_ _ **atrocious**_ _."_

"Oh, I'm sure it'd be no trouble at all. Hey! The sentries at the guild are trained in identifying Pokemon too! Perhaps they can aid us."

Spooks didn't want to go to the guild. It was almost as if he was afraid the 'explorer urge' would rub off on him. But looking at Gallade's gentle smile, he could practically feel his resolve crumbling.

And that was how he found himself being dragged off to the Wigglytuff guild.


	6. Guildmaster

It was just as bad up close. Even worse, somehow. He'd been here before, with Meowth; but being in direct sunlight after several recurring gentle nights, with less sleep than usual, had done nothing to improve his mood or think of this place any more favorably.

The sentries - same voices as before, one high pitched and one obnoxiously loud - identified Gallade almost immediately, and commanded Spooks to stand on the grate. He idly wondered how they knew he was here, but complied, with a somewhat anxious look at Gallade. Meowth would probably laugh if she saw this.

After some muttering, it sounded like an argument between the two had broken out.

"What do you mean MAYBE Darkrai? It either IS or it ISN'T! Identifying POKEMON is your JOB, isn't it, DIGLETT?"

"Yes, well, you give me anyone who can give you a solid answer on identifying a Pokemon from mythology who may not exist, by nothing but footprint, and they can have my job. Until then … I don't know what I don't know."

The loud one groaned, and Spooks couldn't hear the rest of their conversation after that. Still … Darkrai. Hm. The name didn't spark anything, but it would certainly fit if sentry Diglett was right. And according to Meowth, he did have some ties to … what was it Gallade said? A 'pantheon'? Gallade looked just as interested as Spooks was, and leaned closer as if to try and overhear what else they were saying.

"ALRIGHT," the loud one cut in suddenly, making them jump. "If you're with mister GALLADE, I'm sure you're not a BAD Pokemon. You can COME IN, if you're WILLING to let us get a LOOK at you."

"That was part of the intention anyways, my dear Loudred," Gallade soothed, taking Spooks' hand again as the door creaked open. "We'll be right down."

Spooks floated down the ladder after Gallade, giving the inside of the guild a proper look-over. _"It's emptier than I thought it would be."_

"Everyone's pretty much out right now," Gallade explained, leading him down to the lowest level. "It's cooler weather than the past few days, so I would presume everyone's heading out for jobs while it's nicer out. And here we are?" The lowest level was just as empty as the one above it, with only a few Pokemon about. A brightly colored bird began to hop over to them, but Diglett reached them first, popping up from the ground before them and clearing his throat to get them to look down. Spooks blinked at the little mole Pokemon, then knelt down to get a better look at him, causing him to squeak in alarm.

 _"Hello. Are you Diglett?"_

"Yes sir! You're Darkrai, right?"

Spooks shrugged. _"I was hoping you could tell me."_

Diglett looked a little put off by this, but was interrupted by the bird Pokemon from earlier, who had a high musical voice and an air of self-importance. "Now, now, Sentry Diglett! You've duties to attend! I'm sure whatever our guest is here for can be handled by myself or the Guildmaster!"

Diglett looked a little hesitant, but nodded. "Well, alright. Goodbye, Mr. Darkrai and Mr. Gallade. Have a nice day." With that, he burrowed back into the ground and vanished from sight.

The bird Pokemon let out a low chirp, puffing himself up before them. "Hello again, Master Gallade! What can I help you and your guest with today?"

Spooks didn't miss the quick once-over the bird gave him, and found himself standing back up fully. On his legs like this he was taller than Gallade, and he suddenly didn't really mind if he was intimidating to this Pokemon. Gallade merely dipped his head a bit, his smile becoming a touch more strained. Something about this Pokemon didn't sit well with him - annoyed him, even.

"Hello, Chatot. My friend here," he gestured to Spooks, "was looking for some information. May we speak to the Guildmaster?"

"Well, as you know, the Guildmaster is very busy, and I'm sure whatever you need help with is-"

"Hiya!" The door Chatot had been standing before swung open, revealing - _good heavens_. The Pokemon standing there was big and round and pink, with shiny eyes and a little curl atop his head. Gallade bowed a bit, and Spooks suppressed a full-body shudder at the mere sight of … _augh_. That looked like a literal nightmare. Was he asleep again? Was this - oh, he was _talking_.

"-your friend, Mister Gallade?" The pink Pokemon was bouncing around cheerfully, a musical lilt to his voice. Gallade turned to him, and it took him a moment to realize he was meant to introduce himself, and that this had to be the Guildmaster.

 _"Darkrai,"_ he tried the name, and it felt unfamiliar in his mouth. Fitting, but ... new, and strange. _"But - uh, you can call me Spooks."_ He tentatively offered the Guildmaster (Wigglytuff?) a hand, and found it shaken as enthusiastically as possible. Chatot was once more giving Spooks a dirty look from the sidelines, and Spooks wondered what that was about. Still, he didn't get much of a chance to say anything, as the Guildmaster spoke again.

"It's so nice to meet you! A lovely name for a lovely friend!" He hummed a little, spinning around then beaming at them both. "And you came here to see me? That's so great! It's been such a long time since we've even seen a Legendary, and you came to visit! That's so nice! Why don't you stay awhile? We can hang out together and share Perfect Apples and-"

"Guildmaster," Chatot cut in gently, "I do believe our guests are here for a reason." Spooks found himself liking Chatot a lot more when the bird came to his rescue.

"Oooh~?" The pink Pokemon stared at them expectantly, and Spooks fought the urge to shudder again. He seemed so friendly, but everything about him radiated power untold, hidden somewhere within this smiley little creampuff. No wonder Meowth said this Pokemon was terrifying. Spooks reckoned this fluffy little thing could level buildings with … whatever was hiding under the surface.

Spooks had to bite back a sudden surge of anger, an impulse to lash out and rip his claws against the other Pokemon's face - _hurt it, hurt it before it hurts you -_

And it was gone before he could really process it, leaving him with a chill running down his spine as he quickly averted eye contact. Nobody seemed to notice, although Gallade gave him a curious look, and he shook it off and launched into his tale, leaving out only his nightmare. Wigglytuff listened patiently, with Chatot not-so-subtly leaning closer to catch as much as he could.

"Well, well~!" Wigglytuff clapped his little hands together cheerfully. "Yes, my friend, it sounds like you have quite the predicament! Not to worry, though, I'm sure we'll be able to help you! Now, I'm sure I've heard of your counterpart … Chatot!" The bird squawked in alarm, then straightened up. "It's Cresselia, right?"

Spooks was expecting something. A pang of recognition, a memory, hell, even a rush of anger like the one he got looking at Wigglytuff. But the name didn't sound familiar to him at all. Chatot nodded, though, and dutifully recited, "Cresselia, the Good Dreams half of the Lunar Duo. Her feathers are said to bring good dreams to all who hold them, and she's symbolically tied to the crescent moon." He paused, and then, "But not even we regularly connect with Legendary Pokemon, you see. It would take considerable effort and resources to track down Cresselia-" he glanced at Wigglytuff, who had a look of a child who just broke their favorite toy, and quickly stammered out, "Of course, of course, it would be no problem at all, Mr. Darkrai! B-but might I suggest, for the time being, we look into a temporary solution to your ability- w-we wouldn't want to inconvenience you in any manner! Ha ha!"

Gallade nodded, raising a hand to calm Chatot. "Of course, that sounds like a wise course of action. Excellent thinking, Chatot." The bird beamed, and Spooks wondered just how well respected Gallade was here. Then again, Spooks couldn't blame Chatot whatsoever, he'd probably have a similar reaction. Still ... a temporary fix sounded, well, acceptable to him. But it would just fix his ability, how was he supposed to remember anything unless he talked to this 'Cresselia' Pokemon? Still, he stayed silent, letting them speak.

"And you don't have anyone you can ask, Mister Gallade~?" Wigglytuff asked. There was something there, almost expectant, but when Gallade shook his head Wigglytuff just smiled. "Well, we'll get right to it, won't we Chatot? It was wonderful to meet you! Feel free to visit anytime!" He reached up to take one of Spooks' hands, shaking it vigorously in both of his own.

The two left the guild, and Gallade bowed to Spooks once they reached the bottom of the stairs. "I'm afraid I must also take my leave for the time being. I'll be sure to keep in touch, Mister Spooks." He kissed the dark type's hand, smiled, then turned and headed down the path out of town, leaving Spooks alone again.

He found he didn't mind. He had a lot to think about - he had a real name, a … counterpart? Plus, there was whatever happened with Wigglytuff … and an odd nagging feeling Gallade wasn't telling him everything.

Spooks went home.

* * *

Uuugh this chapter was a nightmare to write and I don't know why. Chatot's fun, though.

Also, in regards to a question I received : This both is and isn't an AU of the PMD2 main timeline. It takes place during the main timeline of the story, but some things have happened differently, some things haven't happened at all, and some have happened far earlier than they did in canon. There's a lot more going on than just Primal Dialga! However, you can still expect to see some more familiar faces later on!


End file.
